The First 'Beer for Women' Tanked Miserably

For anyone who does not yet know: women really love beer. In fact, according to a 2016 study, women actually drink more beer than men: women make up 51 percent of beer drinkers in the US, compared to 49 percent for men. And yet, beer marketers can’t seem to figure out how to market their product to women, case in point, a new, obnoxiously pink “beer for her.” Martina Šmírová, founder of the Prague-based craft beer company Aurosa, has just released a line of beer intended for women, which basically just mean there’s curly lettering and pink all over the cans and bottles. Way to dig deep, Aurosa!

According to Munchies, Šmírová has said that she created the “First Beer for Her” as a “a representation of a woman's strength and a girl's tenderness.” Okay… But first of all, “girls” aren’t buying booze in Prague: the legal age to buy alcohol is 18 in the Czech Republic. Second, what exactly does strength or tenderness have to do with beer? One doesn’t have to think too hard to notice that these “empower-tising” buzz phrases are sexist and cliche.

Critics quickly took to social media to voice their thoughts about Aurosa’s eye-roll inducing marketing ploy, calling the beer “creepy” and “an epic fail.” Aurosa has taken notice of the negative reception the beer has received, and attempted to justify the bogus beer on the company’s Facebook, writing, “Aurosa was never intended to take part in sexism, feminism or the like. It was never intended to dictate what women should or shouldn’t drink. We are simply a brand that wants to offer beer in an elegant and beautiful bottle, something that has not been done before, for those women who want it and who’s lifestyle we fit.” Translation: “We goofed but are hoping people who don’t care about gender representation will buy our stuff anyways.”

Munchies notes that attempts to market beer to women in a way that only panders instead of engaging with a grown adult audience of women that likes to imbibe. Molson Coors and Carlson have both attempted to sell “beer for women” in the recent past: Animée and Eve. Neither lasted long on the market. We may only have to wait a month or so to find out if Aurosa meets the same fate.